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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26947831">your way to stardom</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearltiare/pseuds/pearltiare'>pearltiare</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cardcaptor Sakura</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ballet, Ballet AU, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, Minor Relationships, Non magic AU, all lowercase, fluff !!, i am a dancer have been for seven years and i am projecting onto these characters, i love syaosaku so much i really need to write for them more, kero isn't there :( i apologize, space between punctuation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:53:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,544</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26947831</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearltiare/pseuds/pearltiare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>sakura is on her way to becoming a prima ballerina- a refined, elegant girl in her practice. although, she finds herself falling in love with a certain pianist.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kinomoto Sakura/Li Syaoran, minor tsukishiro yukito/kinomoto touya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>and five, six, seven, eight.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"up on your toes, around, inside turn, drag that foot behind you ! point your toes, naoko, that's you, find your windows, everyone !"</p><p> </p><p>is what echoed through the brightly lit studio, the teacher standing at the front near the mirrors. sakura was trying her hardest to keep up with the music, but rehearsals were getting tougher by the day. she was playing the role of one of the fairies in the sleeping beauty ballet, which had quite a few more fairies than she was used to seeing on the big screen. but nonetheless, she had to be on stage often, she had a fair amount of solos and parts that were absolutely crucial for her to remember. the girl wasn't quite sure if she could keep up. she had been in some ballet productions before, such as swan lake, le corsaire, the nutcracker, and anastasia. but she had always been in the ensemble, or at most an understudy for one of the minor leads. having such a big part was a lot of pressure, and for a ten-year-old, the pressure seemed like an iron or anvil on both shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>sakura loved ballet, that much was obvious. she was put in classes at the age of four, and at first, she wasn't too fond of it. she didn't think that ballet was something she could do, not that she wasn't cut out for it, but it simply wasn't for her. but as the classes went on, as she performed more routines, she began to feel more free and happy in her practice. she felt most like herself when she was turning quick, when she was on stage giving it her all. she even ended up going on pointe quite early- at only ten years old, a few months ago. that was a lot earlier than many girls in her class would go on pointe, around two or three years earlier, in fact. the pain from her sport was unavoidable in more ways than one. that much was obvious, but she never even once thought of giving it up. ballet was her life, ballet spoke to her more than anything else in this world possibly could. and for that, she was so, so beyond thankful.</p><p> </p><p>part of what made her feel so incredibly at home at the studio was her best friend, the one and only tomoyo daidouji. to say that she was a star within the dance school was an understatement- she went on pointe about a month before sakura did, she had been dancing since she was eighteen months old, she constantly volunteered to teach the toddler classes as an assistant. she was a wonderful dancer, to say the least. it didn't take a genius to see that, but the most lovely thing about tomoyo, perhaps, was how humble and kind she was despite being a bit of a celebrity. she knew how talented she was at dance, yet she never let it get to her head. she was always loving and uplifting to the other dancers. if somebody needed help doing a specific technique, she was more than happy to help teach them. she made leotards and wrap-around skirts by hand to give to dancers who were already paying more than they could afford on classes.</p><p> </p><p>sakura and tomoyo had met when they were six years old, and were pretty much conjoined at the hip since. fujitaka had given her a spare key by the time she was eight so that she wouldn't have to knock when she wanted to come over. it was helpful as well that they went to the same school, and were in the same classes there as well. it seemed tomoyo and sakura were like the sisters that they had never had. supportive, encouraging, yet goofy and fun whenever they had a moment for. if they had 100 yen for every time they were scolded for making stupid jokes or purposely dancing horribly in class, they'd have enough money to buy a few extensions on tomoyo's home. not that she needed them, of course, but they were quite carefree, yet serious about their practice.</p><p> </p><p>class seemed to drag on for so, so long now. of course, she enjoyed it, but running through the same routine again and again began getting bored. dress rehearsals were soon, tomoyo was in the process of helping hand-glue several crystals to the tutus, and teachers were making sure every single student was at every single class, unless they were seriously ill. sakura couldn't grasp why they couldn't just cut practices short and perform early, but it wasn't like she was going to question the teachers. if anything, she was just glad that she was able to perform as a fairy with some of her closest friends. tomoyo, naoko, rika, chiharu, and meiling. they made the perfect group, in sakura's opinion.</p><p> </p><p><em>plie, releve, turn and land in fifth.</em> those words kept repeating over and over in sakura's head, as she practiced one of the first variations she would have to perform. practicing in ripped tights and dead pointe shoes was not ideal, but at tomoyo's house, she didn't have any replacements. their shoe sizes were quite different, so she she could only hope that maybe one day they'd even out, and then they could share pointe shoes. not very realistic since they're crafted from materials like satin and cardboard, so they most likely wouldn't last long, but it was nice in theory. not that any of that mattered to sakura. one of the nice things about dancing for such an elite ballet school was that they waived the fees for pointe shoes, tights, leotards, and occasionally even lessons. so whether or not her and tomoyo could share shoes, she didn't have to worry about money.</p><p> </p><p>"sakura, are you remembering everything okay ?"</p><p> </p><p>she heard from the back of tomoyo's bedroom, the girl laying on her bed reviewing video footage of the previous performance they had put on. she always found a way to video tape the performances- whether that be by her mother, sneaking a camera into one of the stage wings.</p><p> </p><p>"yeah, just trying to remember the coulante right... why's this gotta be so hard ?"</p><p> </p><p>"well, they simplified it a little ! usually it's the adults performing sleeping beauty, so it's a harder ballet,"</p><p> </p><p>tomoyo began in her usual optimistic tone,</p><p> </p><p>"but sakura, you're gonna do lovely, just as you always do ! you'll look beautiful up there !"</p><p> </p><p>sakura sighed in response, and took a moment to stretch out her back.</p><p> </p><p>"i guess so. thank you, tomoyo, you really always know the right thing to say !"</p><p> </p><p>the next day in class seemed to be the same as always. but while the girls were warming up and stretching for the actual rehearsal portion, she heard a few loud claps at the front of the studio. the dancers turned to look at one of their assistant teachers, and a young boy, presumably around sakura and tomoyo's age was with her.</p><p> </p><p>"we have a new pianist playing for us, and he will be playing during our production of sleeping beauty. please give a warm welcome to syaoran li."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. changes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>sakura is faced with some changes around the studio, and struggles to deal with all of them at once.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello ! a new chapter finally... i apologize, i've been 1. busy with school, dance classes, therapy etc and 2. both very tired and mentally ill. but i'm here and i hope you'll like this chapter !!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>sakura rolled over in her bed, and huffed. what was up with the studio replacing the pianist just weeks before the show ? now they were requiring more practices, which sakura was used to, but now a new dress code was being enforced too- it seemed so strange. what was up with all of this ? sakura never had a problem wearing her colorful leotards adorned with ribbons, lace and fancy designs before, but now she was forced to wear only red, black and pink during the final rehearsals. the pianist the studio worked with for all of the years the girl had been dancing there was just fine, she was a talented young woman who took her job seriously. it's not like she was old and getting ready to retire, she was in her early thirties at the most.</p><p> </p><p>the brunette rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, observing the stick-on glow in the dark stars that were scattered across. maybe she should just ask tomoyo for answers, her mother was quite close with the owners of their studio, so maybe she knew something ? or maybe she could ask this... syao.. syaolan... no, syaoran boy himself ? he was the replacement pianist, after all, he might know why he was called in. <em>sakura, what are you thinking ?! you can't just walk up to someone and ask why they're there, that's rude ! </em>she groaned and pulled her pillow over her head, rolling around a bit while doing so. but then, at the same time, it was unclear to the girl why she couldn't just go with it. when she had new teachers at school she didn't give it a second thought, nor did she when touya got another part time job. she didn't question it when her father's schedule or work uniform changed, so what was the issue now ?</p><p> </p><p>all that she could do was roll over and try her best to go to sleep. she'd have rehearsal again tomorrow, so maybe she could pull tomoyo aside for just a few minutes to ask her if she knew anything. or one of the teachers... but they were quite intimidating, she didn't want her words to come out wrong. the alarm clock up on her bedpost read '9:20', which was about 20 minutes past her bedtime. maybe if it were later she could figure something out.. ugh. why did touya get the 11:00 bedtime instead of her ?! it wasn't fair ! but regardless, she laid back down and begun to close her eyes, relax all of her muscles (something her teachers were constantly on her back about), and steady her breathing. worrying never did sakura any good, especially in situations like this, so she drifted off to sleep with the same words on her mind she repeated when she was in worry,</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>everything will surely be alright.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>sakura woke up to the sound of her alarm clock blaring loudly into her ear, and shot up to look around the room. she looked back at the clock, and thanked the gods that she had woken up then- because that was her final alarm, and if she slept through it, she would've been late for school. she swung her legs over the bed, hopped off and ran to her closet to begin changing into her school uniform, grabbed her ball elastics to tie her hair into her signature little pigtails, and rushed downstairs to grab a bite to eat. touya seemed to have already left, and fujitaka greeted her with a,</p><p> </p><p>"good morning. in a rush, huh ?"</p><p> </p><p>"yeah..."</p><p> </p><p>she responded, dragging out the word and following up with some nervous laughter. her father chuckled in response, and set down a plate of blueberry waffles in front of her. she was quick to pick up her fork and begin gobbling it up, pretty much inhaling her breakfast and stopping for a few seconds to take a gulp of apple juice. within about three minutes, she was done her breakfast, and got up from her seat. she bowed quickly before grabbing her bag and half-yelled,</p><p> </p><p>"thank you for breakfast, dad ! i gotta go now ! i'll see you after school !"</p><p> </p><p>he waved (not that she could see that) and responded,</p><p> </p><p>"be safe."</p><p> </p><p>she slipped on her roller blades, then swung the door open, shut it carefully and began skating directly to tomoeda elementary. she stumbled a few times, but luckily didn't lose her balance fully. sakura was hoping and praying that she would get to school in time, that she wouldn't have to explain to the teacher that the reason she was late was because she slept in. sometimes her teachers would excuse late students, but for things like doctors visits, not sleeping in too late. being this far into the school year and being tardy wasn't a good look, either, so while she had her hands out to her sides to help keep her stable, she kept her fingers crossed. fortunately, she would arrive at the gates right as the clock struck 7:30. she slid off her roller blades at her locker, slipped on her school shoes and rushed up the stairs to her classroom. she was out of breath by the time she sat down at her desk, but she made it regardless.</p><p> </p><p>"good morning, sakura."</p><p> </p><p>tomoyo greeted her with her usual warm smile, and sakura breathed out a heavy,</p><p> </p><p>"morning, tomoyo..."</p><p> </p><p>"oh, my, did you sleep in ?"</p><p> </p><p>sakura giggled and started to shake her head slowly, hoping she'd buy it, but if there was anyone who could read sakura like a book, it was tomoyo.</p><p> </p><p>"how late ?"</p><p> </p><p>tomoyo asked, cocking her head to the side slightly as she spoke.</p><p> </p><p>"....too late."</p><p> </p><p>sakura responded with a sigh. the teacher then, almost on queue arrived to the classroom and began going over their general schedule. up first was math, then science, then reading,then lunch, then recess, then japanese, then physical education, then dismissal. ugh, sakura hated math, but at least she would have it done first. tomoyo was actually quite good in math class, so she figured she could just ask her for pointers if she needed them. as class begun, she pulled out her math textbook and leaned her head into her palm.</p><p> </p><p>♡</p><p> </p><p>during recess, sakura figured it was her chance to ask her friend, tomoyo if she knew anything about the sudden changes the ballet studio had made. tomoyo usually just practiced for choir during recess, so it was quite easy to find her- she was always sat on the same bench, after all. the only time that she hadn't been was when choir forgot to hand out lyric books one day, so she didn't have anything to practice with. the young girl walked her way over to the bench, on the left side of the field and sat down next to her friend. she didn't want to interrupt her practice, so she waited until she was done singing that particular song. not the sakura did mind, she absolutely adored the sound of tomoyo's voice. it was so smooth, so angelic, it was something that everyone in tomoeda elementary could agree on. sakura was not part of the choir, for in her opinion, when she tried to sing she sounded like a screaming rat. although her classmates told her that wasn't true, she just laughed it off and continued saying that. the girl could appreciate her friend's talent, though, the best she possibly could. <em>if you can't do something, you support the people who can.</em> that was sakura's mindset when it came to tomoyo's singing ability.</p><p> </p><p>when the girl next to her finished, she took that as an opportunity to pop the question.</p><p> </p><p>"hey, tomoyo ! ahah, weird question, but do you know what's up with all of the changes at the studio lately ?"</p><p> </p><p>she raised an eyebrow in response, causing sakura to sigh and elaborate.</p><p><br/>"like, the new piano player and dress code, the new schedules and stuff. what was wrong with the lady who played piano before ?"</p><p> </p><p>this prompted an 'ohh' noise from tomoyo, so this raised the brunette's hopes. maybe she did know something, after all !</p><p> </p><p>"well, i heard that the former pianist suddenly fell ill, and her son decided to step in. he has a few sisters, but none of them can play well, so her son decided to take it upon himself. he's the same age as us, so the owners thought he would be a good fit, and we'd get along well with him ! as for the dress code... i think it's because they're going to begin taking rehearsal photos, so they want all of the dancers to look uniform and polished."</p><p> </p><p>she said, explaining everything clearly and quickly. sakura nodded, she supposed that did make sense. having an unclean, unorganized dance group was never a good look for any studio, so she figured that it was just a temporary change. the lady who played before never really spoke to any of the students, though, so it was certainly a surprise to sakura that she fell ill, and that she had children. she had never mentioned said children, nor brought them to class, she was quite the mysterious woman to the dancers. beautiful, and seemingly kind, but none of them knew her any further than that. the dress code was still a pain in the butt though, sakura wanted to wear her pretty cherry blossom leotards ! her sparkly wrap-around skirts ! she supposed that she could handle it until the show, though. and once the next dance season begun, she could wear all of her fancy leotards again !</p><p> </p><p>"hm.. that makes sense, thank you, tomoyo.."</p><p> </p><p>sakura replied flatly, and tomoyo wore a worried look on her face.</p><p> </p><p>"what's wrong, sakura ?"</p><p> </p><p>she shook her head and chuckled,</p><p> </p><p>"ahah, don't worry about me ! get back to your practice, okay ? i'm sorry that i interrupted you, bye bye !"</p><p> </p><p>sakura was already getting up from the bench and waving goodbye, which left tomoyo a bit confused. the girl turned around and began speed-walking to the other side of the field to hopefully outrun her worries, but to no avail. she sat down with naoko and rika, who seemed to be playing some kind of board game (who brings a board game to school ? naoko, apparently) and sighed.</p><p> </p><p>naoko looked up from the board, and asked,</p><p> </p><p>"something on your mind ?"</p><p> </p><p>"ugh... i just don't understand why everything's just gotta be so confusing !"</p><p> </p><p>sakura threw her head back, and rika looked up from the board this time, looking concerned for her friend.</p><p> </p><p>"life's confusing, man, i don't get it either."</p><p> </p><p>naoko moved her piece across the board and looked over to rika, continuing,</p><p> </p><p>"your turn."</p><p> </p><p>sakura sighed again, and responded,</p><p> </p><p>"i know, but i really just can't help worrying !"</p><p> </p><p>"it'll be okay, sakura, i promise."</p><p> </p><p>rika chimed in, which didn't give the girl much hope, but she appreciated the thought.</p><p> </p><p>"you're usually so cheerful, sakura, did something bad happen ? like, really really bad ?"</p><p> </p><p>the girl responded by shaking her head no, and said,</p><p> </p><p>"i just don't get why the studio has gotta change so much."</p><p> </p><p>naoko didn't take her eyes off the board, still, and replied,</p><p> </p><p>"change has to happen sometimes, you know ! it sucks, but we gotta go with the flow."</p><p> </p><p>ah, yes. naoko's words of wisdom. she seemed to know exactly what to say, though, since sakura hadn't actually thought that way yet. maybe it was a step in the right direction, a new chapter for the studio and all of its dancers ! if she could just sit back, relax, and let things be how they're meant to be, perhaps she wouldn't think about it anymore. before she knew it, recess was called to conclude and for class to begin again.</p><p> </p><p>♡</p><p> </p><p>when sakura arrived to practice that night, she had already stretched at home. she wore a bright red long-sleeved leotard, and her hair was tied back into a very small ponytail. studio dress code stated that buns were now required, but her hair was much too short to pull back into one, so she was the exception to this new rule. the girls were beginning to warm up at the barre for their fairy variations, some others were stretching on the floor, some were talking to teachers as they still needed corrections. then she noticed the new pianist- syaoran, walk in, sheet music in hand, and gulped. something about him just didn't seem right. although sakura couldn't quite put her finger on it, she decided it may be a good idea to keep her guard up whilst around the young boy.</p><p> </p><p>tomoyo then walked through the door, her hair tied in a neat bun with a thin braid circling around it. she was a perfect example of a ballerina- polite, elegant, kind, talented, dedicated, and humble. the studio often used her as an example of how wonderful their dancers were, and truly, it was fair to say she might as well be the face of the company by now.</p><p> </p><p>sakura was called up second to do her fairy variation at the beginning of act one, the coulante. she had practiced it countless times in her room, gone over it several times in her head, stayed late quite a few times at the studio to really clean up around the edges. she felt confident in the routine now, and the girl could only hope that her teachers would think the same. as she prepped and set position, the music began. she was doing quite well, up until she glanced over in syaoran's direction and made eye contact with him for just a few seconds. but those few seconds felt like eternity, and her teachers were snapping their fingers. sakura hadn't realized that she had stopped in the middle of her variation, and that everyone had just seen her stare in the boy's direction for a solid ten seconds.</p><p> </p><p>"do it again, sakura ! don't get distracted."</p><p> </p><p>so she prepped again, and began. she began again, and again, and again, but she couldn't focus, so she just couldn't finish.</p>
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